Six O’Clock Solution: One-pot sesame stir-fried veggies

If you don’t have all the vegetables called for on hand, substitute, but don’t crowd the pan.Jan Scott / Penguin Random House

Family Bites blogger Jan Scott knows you're in a hurry, and she has a few tips for making supper come together more quickly.

Easy-going family recipes that call for only one pot are collectors’ items with hurried cooks.

Oven To Table, by Toronto blogger Jan Scott (Penguin Random House, $32), offers more than 100 such recipes made in any one of six pots or pans: the Dutch oven, sheet pan, frying pan, roasting pan, casserole or baking pan. Scott writes Family Bites, and provides many tips for one-pot cuisine, beginning with preparing all ingredients before you start cooking, particularly with this fast, meatless stir-fry.

If the dinner hour is really rushed, she suggests doing all the chopping and making the sauce the day before. A further concession to efficiency: root and cruciferous (the cabbage family) vegetables can be cut up to five days in advance and refrigerated in airtight containers. But chop peppers no more than two days ahead or they turn slimy, she advises.

If you don’t have all the vegetables called for on hand, substitute, but don’t crowd the pan or the vegetables will sweat, rather than fry, she warns. Photographs, all by Scott, are excellent.

Sesame Stir-fried Veggies

Serves 4

½ cup (125 mL) tamari sauce

2 tablespoons (30 mL) lime juice

3 tablespoons (45 mL) packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons (30 mL) cornstarch

2 teaspoons (10 mL) Sriracha hot sauce*

2 tablespoons (30 mL) sesame oil

1 large onion, in chunks

1 bunch broccoli, in florets

1 red bell pepper, in 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces

1 yellow bell pepper, in 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces

1 zucchini, in 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tablespoon (15 mL) peeled, grated fresh gingerroot

1 tablespoon (15 mL) sesame seeds

* Substitute Sambel Oelek chili paste, moistened with a little water and seasoned with a dash of garlic powder and sugar.

In a bowl, mix together the tamari sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, cornstarch and Sriracha sauce and set aside.

In a large cast-iron, stainless-steel or non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry onion until softened, about one to two minutes. Add broccoli and stir-fry another three to four minutes or until crisp-tender.

Add peppers and zucchini and stir-fry until all vegetables are tender, another three to four minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Pour sauce over vegetables and stir-fry for one minute more. Serve hot with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.